Update: Sad news. Salt & Pickle closed down in February 2018. I loved it. The restaurant game is a right bastard. They really tried, but sky-high rents and gawd knows what else made them do the sensible thing rather than get up to the eyeballs in debt. We miss you guys!

Old news: Like cured, salty foods and good ales? Oh yes I most surely do. A new and exciting deli/restaurant has opened up in Crystal Palace: Salt + Pickle. They do all kinds of home-cured foods (salmon, hams etc), great cheeses and big jars of colourful home-made pickles, from sauerkraut to pickled aubergines, chillies or pineapple. Even though it’s hard to move for eating options in this neck of the woods, Salt + Pickle stands out quite comfortably. It sits proudly on the old site of a rather forlorn bakery (Betty’s) that shut down a few months back.

I popped in for lunch with a pal and instantly we felt at ease in a very relaxed atmosphere. People lounged at the bar on stools sampling bits of jamon. A couple of mums wheeled their buggies in. The gregarious owner, Manish, chatted to everyone in the room. He owns the cheese and wine shop up the road (Good Taste Food and Drink), and he really knows his stuff. All the produce is of extremely high quality, from the cheeses and meats right down to the bread for the sandwiches. Here’s what we had for lunch:

Gin and beetroot cured salmon sandwich with chive and lemon cream cheese, with a superfood salad (quinoa, pomegranate, fennel, cabbage and beetroot) HOW LOVELY:

The decor is pared down, modernist and relaxed, with GREAT furniture:

I can’t wait to try out the evening menu, which boasts such things as star anise and orange cured duck (woah!) and pickled mushroom bruschetta (yum!). And for fans of cured beef, they offer a classic salt beef with pickles and mustard. You can get cheese and charcuterie boards served with their house pickles. Manish also talked about doing some ceviche on the menu soon too. YUM. The range of boozes looks interesting – lots of craft ales and thoughtfully sourced wines. And there’s puddings: a gin, lime and tonic sorbet or a pavlova ice cream. Sounds good, right? Go and check this place out – it deserves to be a huge success.

Salt + Pickle
67 Westow Hill
Crystal Palace
London SE19 1TS